Pets Ease Stress For Kids With Autism And Their Parents
Pets help strengthen relationships between parents and children with autism, besides easing stress, according to research from the University of Missouri.
Parents of these children tend to experience more stress than other parents, and pets can be a source of relief and support.
The study was conducted by Gretchen Carlisle, a research scientist with the Research Center for Human-Animal Interaction in the MU College of Veterinary Medicine, and published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.
What the Research Found
As part of the study, more than 700 families from the Interactive Autism Network were surveyed about the pros and cons of having a dog or cat in the family.
The study found that though caring for a pet was real work, the children and their parents experienced strong attachment to their pets.
Despite the added responsibility, caring for a pet was not linked to higher stress for parents in the survey, and the reported benefits increased for families with more than one pet.
More Social Interaction
Carlisle found that pets were associated with more social interaction for these children and reduced anxiety, alongside being a source of comfort and support for their parents.
Choosing the Right Pet for Your Child
According to Carlisle, parents on the verge of getting a pet should involve their child in the decision and try to match the pet’s temperament to the child’s sensitivities. A child on the spectrum may find a large, noisy, highly active dog overwhelming, while a calm cat can be a better fit for a child sensitive to sound or sudden movement.
If a calmer companion sounds like the better fit for your family, our guide to the best cat breeds for families is a good starting point, and our tips for adopting a dog from a shelter can help if you decide a dog is still the right call – shelter staff can often tell you a lot about an individual dog’s energy level and temperament before you commit.
Carlisle said her objective was to provide parents with evidence-based information to help them make the right choice for their child, rather than a one-size-fits-all recommendation.
All Types of Pets Can Help
In an earlier study, Carlisle found that having any kind of pet in the home was associated with improved social skills in this group of children, who were more likely to introduce themselves, seek information, and answer questions from others in social settings.
According to Carlisle, living with a pet was associated with these children being more assertive and socially engaged – even in a classroom or group setting, children tended to talk and interact more with each other when pets were present.
Carlisle’s research also found that the longer a family had a pet, the stronger the children’s social skills tended to be, and that they tended to bond especially well with smaller dogs.
A Newer Study: How Cats Adjust to Their New Families
Carlisle and her colleagues followed up with a study on the other side of this relationship: how shelter cats adjust after being adopted into one of these families. The 2021 University of Missouri follow-up study measured cortisol (a stress hormone) in shelter cats before and after adoption, and found the cats generally became less stressed over time once settled in – a reassuring sign for families worried that a child’s sensory needs might be hard on a newly adopted cat.
Classroom Pets and Social Skills
Carlisle isn’t the only researcher who has looked at this connection. In an earlier, separate study, researcher Marguerite O’Haire and colleagues ran an eight-week classroom program across 41 classrooms in 15 schools in Brisbane, Australia, introducing guinea pigs into classrooms that included children with autism. The study, published in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, found that the children talked, smiled, and laughed more, and whined and cried less, when the guinea pigs were present compared to toy-only sessions.
The same research group later ran a larger study funded by the Human Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI), tracking 591 third and fourth-grade students across 41 classrooms (some with resident classroom pets, some without) for a full school year. Teachers with classroom pets reported significantly greater gains in social skills, social competence, and reading competence, along with fewer behavior problems, compared to classrooms without pets.
What About Service Dogs?
Service dogs trained specifically for children with autism are a popular but expensive option, and the research on them is more mixed than for general pet ownership. A 2024 study in Frontiers in Psychiatry, led by Kerri Rodriguez and including Carlisle’s frequent collaborator Marguerite O’Haire, surveyed 75 families – 39 already placed with a service dog and 36 still on the waitlist. The study found that having a service dog was linked to meaningfully better sleep – easier sleep initiation, longer duration, and less anxiety around bedtime – but it did not find a significant effect on the child’s daytime behavior or on caregiver stress, sleep, or depression.
A more recent 2025 systematic review in Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews pooled the available studies on assistance dogs for autism and reached a careful conclusion: the evidence specifically for trained service dogs is still limited and of mixed quality, and many of the same potential benefits may be achievable with a well-matched family or companion dog, without the cost and multi-year wait list that comes with a professionally trained service dog. For most families, this is reassuring rather than discouraging news.
| Study | Year | Pet/Animal | Key Finding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carlisle, Univ. of Missouri | 2020 | Dogs & cats (family pets) | Strong attachment; pet care not linked to higher parental stress |
| Carlisle et al., Univ. of Missouri | 2021 | Shelter cats | Cats became less stressed over time after adoption into autism families |
| O’Haire et al. | 2013 | Classroom guinea pigs | More talking, smiling, and laughing; less whining and crying |
| McCullough, O’Haire et al. (HABRI) | 2019 | Classroom pets (various) | Better social skills and reading competence; fewer behavior problems |
| Rodriguez, O’Haire et al. | 2024 | Trained service dogs | Better child sleep; no significant effect on caregiver stress |
| Mulraney, Lampit et al. | 2025 | Assistance dogs (review) | Evidence for service-dog-specific benefit still limited; companion dogs may offer similar gains |
Frequently Asked Questions
What did the University of Missouri study on pets and autism find?
Surveying more than 700 families, researcher Gretchen Carlisle found that children with autism and their parents formed strong attachments to family pets, that pet care was not linked to higher parental stress, and that the reported benefits grew with more than one pet.
Does having a pet add to a parent’s stress when a child has autism?
In this study, no – pet care was not associated with increased parental stress, even though parents acknowledged it as real, ongoing work.
Are dogs or cats better for children with autism?
Neither is universally “better” – it depends on the child. Carlisle’s advice is to match the pet’s temperament to the child’s sensitivities: a calm cat may suit a child sensitive to noise and sudden movement, while a smaller, even-tempered dog may suit another child well.
Does having more than one pet help more?
The survey found that reported benefits increased in families with more than one pet, though this doesn’t mean every family needs multiple pets to see a benefit from one.
What did the 2021 follow-up study about cats find?
That follow-up study measured stress hormones in shelter cats before and after adoption into families with a child with autism, and found the cats generally became less stressed as they settled into their new homes.
Do classroom pets help children with autism too?
Yes. Separate research on classroom guinea pigs and other small classroom pets found gains in social skills, social competence, and reading competence for children with autism, alongside fewer behavior problems, when a pet was part of the classroom routine.
Are trained service dogs worth the cost for a child with autism?
It depends on your family’s needs. Research has found service dogs help with child sleep, but a 2025 systematic review found limited evidence that they offer benefits beyond what a well-matched companion dog can provide for many families. A service dog may still be the right call for safety-related needs like wandering, but it isn’t the only path to the social and emotional benefits described in this article.
Is this research a substitute for advice from my child’s doctor or therapist?
No. This article summarizes published research on pets and autism and is meant as general information, not individual guidance. Every child with autism is different, and decisions about pets, therapy, or care should be made together with your child’s pediatrician, psychologist, or autism specialist.
You may also find our post on 16 dogs similar to German Shepherd helpful.
Michael Burrows is a contributor and editor at Dogs and Cats HQ. He specializes in researching pet behavior, training, health, and nutrition topics. His articles are based on veterinary sources, animal welfare organizations, and practical pet ownership experience shared by the Dogs and Cats HQ editorial team.
